Tackling Easter

We will be hosting Easter at our house this year, which means we will have all our family and friends over to celebrate... it also means that they will be bringing sugary treats into our house and most likely leaving them there!!! I am a firm believer that a nibble here and there will not hurt you, you only get one life so do not deprive yourself. However, I am also a firm believer that if you do not make a plan before going into a nibble of something you love, you will most likely have more than just a nibble. Last night, we made a plan.

Our plan - Caleb is not really a huge sweet eater, neither is Casey... me on the other hand, I could eat sweets 24/7. We decided that since I am the only sweet eater and I am the one who really wants to stay focused on my weight loss, we will just get rid of any and every piece of sugary treats left at our house come Sunday night. Here is what we will be doing...

1. Caleb's Easter basket from the Easter Bunny will be full of Summer Fun - swim trunks, floaties, beach towel, pool toys, etc. There will be not one ounce of candy in the basket what so ever!

2. Any and all candy Caleb receives from family and friends, Caleb will have his choice of keeping a few pieces and the rest will be taken to work with Casey on Sunday night and left in his break room.

3. Any and all sugary desserts left at our house on Sunday night after our family and friends leave will also be taken to work with Casey on Sunday night to be left in his break room. Casey is stronger then I am and so he wont be tempted, where as I would be.

You have to have a plan to succeed and you bet your bottom, I will succeed when it comes to my next weigh in with the Biggest Loser Competition I am in.

***I also remember last year that there was a dentist office around the DFW metroplex that you can donate all leftover Easter Candy (and Halloween Candy) and they will ship it out to the troops. It might be worth looking into if you feel guilty just throwing it away.***

I just want to take a few minutes and give a shout out to my friend Jesus... He loved each of us so much (before we were even created) that he died on the cross and rose again! And a BIG FAT thank you to our God for giving his only son to die for our sins! Our God is an Awesome God!!! Happy Easter Y'all!!

Happy Weigh Day!

Today is officially day 1 of the weight loss competition I am in... the jackpot is up to $350!!! Let the games begin!!

The past couple of days I have felt so blah, my allergies were acting up worse then ever before. All I wanted to do was to take my meds and pass out... Since I could hardly breathe, I ended up sitting out of my Saturday workout, rested on Sunday, sat out of running over lunch on Monday, sat out of Insanity Monday night, and I sat out of running over lunch on Tuesday... I finally started to feel better yesterday afternoon so I joined in on some Insanity with Casey last night. I now feel back to 110%! I have my bag ready for the gym today for a quick run over lunch and I am ready to do some Plyometric Cardio Circuit tonight...

While I was out of commission, I really focused on staying on track with my food. I figured if I couldn't workout, I could at least stay on top of my meals. I did enjoy our cheat meal on Sunday night and I did enjoy a few pieces of candy with Caleb, but all in all I did good. I really think that praying over how I feel about eating certain foods and trying to see myself the way God sees me, is really helping me not stress over every little decision I make. I don't want to be that girl that is so obsessed with food, weight and the gym, that it annoys everyone around her. I want to find that happy balance for each of those categories and be happy with my decisions no matter what... I think I am on the right track, I know I will get there soon!

Hope you all have a happy and healthy day!

Jean Addiction

Way back in my fat days, I never ever wore jeans. I hated jeans so much... Why you ask? Well because they were tight and I could never find any in my size. Once I lost the weight, I became ADDICTED to wearing jeans. I loved being able to go shopping and find a pair of cute jeans, tried them on and guess what... they fit (and looked cute)! I am now the proud owner of 16 pairs of jeans, 2 pair even still have tags on them!

After my surgery last spring, I wore dresses everywhere. It was easy with my HUGE knee brace and with my depression. Yes, I was depressed. I went from being active and in shape to having to learn to walk again and eating everything in sight. That is a major reason I gained some of my 100 pound loss back, its not an excuse... it just what happened. When the brace finally came off and I was able to wear jeans again, it was summer and well I live in Texas... you don't wear jeans in summer unless you are crazy! The fall came and by then, I had gained so much weight that I only had 2 pair of jeans that would fit me, my fat jeans! It sucked to see all those other jeans in my closet, they were calling my name! I have had a few people tell me to just throw them out or donate them because seeing them each day was making me depressed... little did they know that one day the depression would turn into motivation and determination, I just had to wait for that to kick in!

When I started Insanity 3 weeks ago, I told Casey that I was going to get back into those jeans again by summer. Each week I have pulled down the HUGE pile of jeans and tried some on... today I tried a pair on and guess what, THEY FIT!!!! I was so excited that I woke Casey up at 5:00 A.M. and strutted my stuff all around the bedroom!!!

I still have a long ways to go, but with a mix of running, Insanity and my bible study... I know I have the right tools to help me get back into each and every single one of those jeans (even the ones with tags on them still)!!!



Mile by Mile

The last time I ran, my mile was an 11 minute mile. It's not the best time but it was also not the worst time... I knew that when I ever started running again I would have to build up to an 11 minute mile, it wouldn't just happen over night. This being my 1st week back on the running scene, I have to say I have done pretty dang good on improving my time each day... I think it helps that I am competitive!

Monday - I walked mostly with a few runs here and there, but they were very sporadic.

My mile was 19 minutes and 57 seconds

Tuesday - I did more of an interval program, where I walked a couple minutes and ran 30 second to 1 minute.

My mile was 17 minutes and 45 seconds

Wednesday - I did the interval program again but I added more running in.

My mile was 16 minutes and 21 seconds

Today - Guess what I did... the interval program but this time I ran more than I walked.

My mile was 15 minutes and 46 seconds.

I have to say, I am SO proud of myself... its slow but guess what, IT IS RUNNING!!!!

Oh and some other good news - Casey and I have signed up for the Race for the Cure 5K that is on April 6 this year. This will be our 1st ever race to do together!!!

Here is to making the impossible, POSSIBLE!!!

3 awesome things!

A couple of awesome things have happened so far this week and I would like to share them with you...

1. I joined a Facebook weight loss competition and I have a chance to win $330.00 May 5th! How it works is, I paid $10 to join and so did 32 other people. We have 6 weeks to lose as much weight as we can and then the person at the final weigh-in who loses the most percentage of weight, WINS! We have to send in our weight to the girl who put it all together (Amanda) every single Wednesday... if we miss a Wednesday, we are out of the competition. Now, I am not sure if you know this about me or not but boy oh boy do I love a good competition.... I love to win! My winning obsession is so bad that when I am at the gym, I am racing the person beside me and they don't even know we are competing! Ha! I think this, along with the 2 other things that have happened this week, is really going to help drive me to lose this weight I have gained this past year...

2. I joined a bible study lead by my dear friend Brittanie. The bible study is based on a book called "Love to Eat, Hate to Eat". I have been dealing with demons a very long time and when I lost my 100 pounds, I was able to shut those demons up but I was never able to learn how to actually deal with them... hence why I ended up gaining some of the weight back (that and my stupid knee surgery). I am ready to get my mind and my heart in line with my determination so that I can fight this weight loss battle the correct way! After I lose this weight this time, I do not want it back ever again!

3. Y'all ready to hear the last thing that has happened this week?! I have shared the GREAT news with a few people around me already and I am now finally ready to share it with you.... I RAN! It has been over a year since the last time I ran and something has been missing in my life since then. I know with my knee surgery, I do not need to be out there running long distances and everything, BUT running intervals seems to be okay. My knee has never felt stronger (I chalk that up to Insanity) and after I ran some the past 2 days, my knee did not hurt or ache once. My plan is to just keep taking it very slow, keep running some intervals (30 seconds to 1 minute of running followed by 1 minute of walking). It felt so amazing to just be able to zone out and run again... The 1st day I tried it, I was only going to go 30 seconds... well I ended up zoning out and ran 3 minutes before I realized it. Oh how I have missed running so much!!!

I have to say for this only being Wednesday, I have had a really good week so far! I am getting my mind right, I am running again and I am ready to shed this weight once and for all...

Fit Test Day 15 / TBL Finale

Last night 2 big things happened in our house... we had our 1st Fit Test repeat with Insanity AND it was the finale of The Biggest Loser!!!

The Fit Test: I am so proud of Casey and myself for sticking with Insanity and making it to the 1st milestone... the day 15 Fit Test. On day 1 of Insanity, you complete the Fit Test and log all of your scores. Then you repeat this step on day 15, day 30 and the last day. This allows you to see how much stronger you are becoming... and after day 15, our results should speak for themselves!

I am VERY proud of my Low Plank Obliques... the 1st day, I couldn't even do them at all (due to my knee) but I am getting stronger (and so is my knee)!

The Biggest Loser: Spoiler Alert! I just love seeing the players before and now photos, if that doesn't motivate you... I don't know what will! The at home players looked good and I was really bummed out that Gina beat out Lisa for the prize... I really thought that Lisa secured that, but I know that Gina worked hard and she deserved it. I have to say, I loved Gina's black and white dress she wore out on stage... dang Gina (lol)!! My next favorite part of the show was Joe... I know he is an older man but oh my geez he looked good! I don't know what it is about that man, but his smile kills me and now his body matches it! My FAVORITE part of the show last night... Yep you guessed it, DANNI!!! I have been on team Danni since day 1 and I am so happy she won the whole show... by 1 pound!!! She didn't only lose the weight, but she was T-O-N-E-D! I have to say, even if she would have lost... she looked the best out of all the contestants. Go Danni Go!!! Okay, I am ready for the next season...

I hope that you all have a healthy happy day!

I will beat her...

I will beat her

I will train harder

I will eat cleaner

I know her weaknesses

I know her strengths

I've lost to her before,

But not this time.

She is going down.

I have the advantage

Because I know her well...

She is the OLD me.

Brutally honest

Weight loss isn't all sunshine and rainbows and that sucks! I always try to be brutally honest on my blog and well tonight I really need to vent so bear with me please...

I hate that for the rest of my life I will battle my weight. I hate that I can't enjoy a cupcake with my son before he leaves for his dads for a week because one bite and I have more guilt then you could ever imagine. I hate that jeans never fit me the way they are suppose to. I hate that no matter how much I bust my ass, stay on a strict eating plan and everything else... I still have days where I feel like this!

If it was easy, we would all be skinny... I know. If I keep doing what I am doing, it will get better... I know. If I slip up now I will just have to restart yet again... I know!

Pity Party.. Party of 1!!

I am just so annoyed right now and I am really peeved at my weight loss and at the battle I will face til the day I die.

The only upside I can see is THANK GOD I AM 5 FEET 10 INCHES TALL!!!

Deep breathe... I've got this!

You cant out run your fork

Before you read this blog, keep in mind that I love the gym... I love working out... I am pro gym!

With that being said.... you CAN'T out run your fork! What I mean by that is that weight loss doesn't start at the gym!!! Weight loss starts in the kitchen. Abs are made in the kitchen. Keep this in mind, weight loss is 80% eating clean (right/correct) and 20% working out. 80%...80% of losing weight is all in the kitchen, it lies in your fridge, when you decide to make a pit stop at the drive thru, it is what you put in your grocery basket and it is what you feed your family every day. I am not asking you to go on a diet, I really HATE diets, what I am asking you to do is to start eating better. When you eat better/clean you will start to see a change in your energy levels, in your weight loss, in your pants, and the list could go on and on. When you start seeing a change in your energy levels, you start wanting to make it to the gym to help you with that other 20%.

Someone on Biggest Loser talked about how they would go workout and then go eat a bad meal, basically erasing all of their hard work they just put in. They looked at food as a reward, we are not animals people... do not reward yourself with food. When you fuel your body with the right food when you are finished with a workout (or even on days you don't workout) your body in return thanks you by losing weight!

When you do make it to the gym, remember that cardio 24/7 is not the answer either. Cardio is great, I love me some cardio, but when you add in strength training... you will help build your muscles up and in return your muscles will help you burn the fat faster. Basically if you feed your body the right food and you work your body out the right way, your body will start working the way you want it and need it to. This concept is NOT a new concept, its just a forgotten one. I know that eating bad and not working out is so much easier then taking the right steps... but then again, who said losing weight was easy?!

Here are a couple of guidelines I stick by when it comes to eating:
1. Fall in love with fruits and veggies
2. Get your protein in! Google how much protein you need a day to lose weight, you will be amazed.
3. Try and drink a glass of water every hour - google how much water you need, you will also be amazed by this.
4. Try and stay away from carbs, if I am craving any I will stick with Whole Wheat pasta, brown rice or 9 grain whole wheat bread. And if I do eat carbs, I try and eat them earlier on in the day so that my body has time to break them down before I go to bed.
5. Say bye-bye to cheese - this was tough for me but I am determined.
6. Drink your milk early in the day, you don't need  to go to bed with that much sugar just being consumed.
7. Watch your sodium intake - frozen meals, ugh! - google this too!
8. Eat 5-6 small meals a day and never ever let your body get hungry
9. Have a cheat meal once a week or once a month but when you are done, get back on track.
10. Have an accountability partner to help keep you on track

Weight loss is so simple to understand... its just taking those first few steps are so hard! You can do it...

Happy Tuesday!

Morning!!

1st thing is 1st, this is a The Biggest Loser spoiler... so if you haven't watch this week's episode you might want to stop reading now.

Last nights episode was one of my favorite yet. I love that the trainers take each of the remaining contestants into a room to watch their journey on a big screen. I love it even more that at the end of each of the videos there is a clip of who they use to be talking to who they are now. If that isn't motivation to keep going, I don't know what it. Being a former fatty, I know that looking at yourself at your heaviest is way more motivation then looking at goal clothes or pictures of what you think you want to look at. You see your old self and know that you NEVER want to go back to that, you feel ashamed and then that fire lights and you are motivated. While watching these videos I decided to pull a photo of myself before my weight loss journey started and put it up to a photo of me recently. I have lost 101 pounds but since knee surgery, I have gained about 20-25 of that back and I have been so discouraged... seeing how far I have come, really helped me know that I can get that 20-25 pounds off and that I will NEVER let myself go again.

I am ever so happy that Danni, my FAVE, made it to the finale with Jeff. My 2nd fave is Joe and he is up against Jackson for the 3rd place spot... well I am stuck between a rock and a hard place on who to vote for. If I vote for Jackson then Danni has a better shot of winning but Joe is my 2nd fave of the group... tough decisions, haha! Who do you think will get the 3rd and final spot? Who do you think will win it all? I am so ready for next Monday!!!

This morning while getting ready, I put on an outfit  that I wore the Sunday before starting Insanity... Casey looked at me and said "Wow, I can really tell a difference in how that outfit fits you since the last time you wore it..." That means more to me than any number that could ever pop up on the scale. Speaking of the scale, we have decided to put it up until the 7th. We have both noticed that with Insanity, we have both been losing inches but the number on the scale hasn't really changed. So instead of giving meaning to that number, we are putting the scale up and going to keep focusing on Insanity and eating healthy and let our pant sizes do the talking. Although I am secretly hoping that on the 7th when we pull the scale back out, that both of our number drop! We shall see...

I hope you each have a grand day and remember... a minute on your lips and forever on your hips!

27 days and counting

In 27 days, Casey Caleb and I will be handing out to meet our photographer to take engagement photos!! I am so excited that the next chapter of our lives has officially started and I can't wait to have these photos done... I will cherish them forever!

On that note, I have 27 days to really focus on Insanity and to really stay focused on my food plan. We have already finished 1 week of Insanity and I can already feel myself not as bloated and I have more energy! The scale hasn't changed much but I know that it will soon.

I wore the dress in the picture below to our engagement dinner this past weekend and I plan on wearing it for some of our engagement photos too... I have 27 days to look better in it... I can do it and I will do it!! I am a bride on a mission...

It's official...

Its official... We have completed week 1 of Insanity!! Today is our rest day (as well as the anniversary of when we started dating) and we are enjoying it to the fullest (church, lunch at Reata, some errands and the Top Golf). I have to say, some of the Insanity workouts are nerve racking but once you get into the DVD and finish the workout, you question why you were so nervous to start! I can already tell a difference in my body too (the scale not so much, aunt flow is headed this way). We have been eating great, even at our engagement dinner last night and at our 1 year anniversary lunch today! I am proud of both of us...

Side note - Casey has lost a little more than 30 pounds this past year. I am so proud of him!!

Y'all stay on track, cheating on the weekends is so not worth it... Trust me, I know!!

All aboard the Pity Train

Being a girl has its good times and its bad times! This blog today is all the reasons I hate being a girl sometimes... ready to listen to me whine some?!

10. That time of the month - Hey Aunt Flow!!!
9. Being bloated the whole week before that time of the month
8. Craving sweets 24/7
7. If you eat 1 bad thing, you gain 10 pounds
6. If you smell something yummy, you gain 5 pounds
5. Guys decide to just follow along with your hardcore determination and they lose twice the weight you do.
4. Having 3 different sizes of jeans in your closetthe "plus size" models aren't plus size
2. Having to lose baby weight
And my #1 reason I hate being a girl right now is...
#1 - Wedding dress shopping... I don't want to be bigger than a 12!

As you can tell, I woke up on the wrong side of the bed today! I woke up feeling so bloated, my jeans are tight and I feel like a fat blob! I hate days like this. Days like this are why I keep having to restart my weight loss because I get on the pity train that takes me to Sonic and I end up with a Route 44 Diet Coke with 5 real cherries and then the pity train derails at a grocery store where I stock up on desserts. Then after a few days, I wake up from my sugar coma so pissed off at myself and have to restart my weight loss. I use to do it all the time, then stopped while I lost my 100 pounds and now its back again. After talking it out with Jamie just the other day, I need to really realize when these moments are happening so that I don't have an outer body experience and get on board the pity train... instead I need to stay in control and stay on the dang train I am already on, the healthy one!

I text Rebecca (my friend I am doing insanity with) this morning telling her everything that is going on... I am happy to have her on team Jordan because all she wrote back was "no excuses"... just what I needed to hear. Today instead of boarding the pity train, I have all my meals packed and at work with me. I am going to stay on track and then meet her later for day 4 of Insanity... one day at a time!!

Monthly Photos

Like I said yesterday, I wasn't all that excited to take photos this morning. I knew I slacked a LOT this past month and the pictures and scale showed it. I weighed in at the SAME weight I was last month, however Casey lost 3 pounds. I am kind of pissed at myself for letting yet another month go by and not getting my weight in check. I know that my weight will be a battle the rest of my life, and I know what to do and how to eat correct... why do I always let myself slip up? I blame the weekends... I am horrible on the weekends! Its like I have an out of body experience and the next thing I know its Sunday and I am wondering how in the world did I let my food get that bad out of control. Do you ever have moments like this? Its crazy too because I am never HUNGRY, its just because I was bored...

Casey and I had a long talk the other night, we have actually had this talk before, and I begged him to help me stay on track on the weekends. I didn't need someone to hold my hand when I lost the 100 pounds but for some reason now I do! We are going to take it one weekend at a time and really try and plan out our weekends... I mean if we are going to do Insanity for 60 days, why would be through away all our hard work during the week for a meal or 2 on the weekends?

We have 2 big events this weekend... 1 is our engagement dinner that is at a Mexican restaurant that we love and the 2nd is our 1 year anniversary and we will be celebrating at Reata's and Top Golf. We have decided that at the engagement dinner we will both have the fajita salad with dressing on the side, stay away from the chips, drink water and only have 1 of the cookies that my sister ordered us. It will be easier to eat healthy as Reata's because they have such wonderful lean meats to choose from, the hard part is going to be telling them to NOT bring us pecan biscuits... Top Golf is more of a bar scene and since I am not a big drinker, that will be easy for me just to focus on golfing instead of drinking. Casey might have 1 or 2... after all the boy deserves it for putting up with me for a year! HA!

Anyways... here are our pictures! They are January, February and March. Like I said, I cant tell a difference in me at all except for the way cute sports bra I bought from Target. I can tell a bit in Casey's stomach (more so from his side view). These pictures are wonderful motivation for the both of us and really hold us accountable. Without these pictures, I probably would have gained this past month instead of maintaining it. You better believe it though, next month I will have a loss!!! Bring on Insanity Day 3...

This girl is on fire

I completed day 1 of Insanity last night and let me tell you, this girl is on FIRE!! Oh My Gosh my inner thighs are more sore then they have been in a LONG time. It is so bad/good that I have to hold on to the wall when sitting down to potty and standing back up. My arms are sore too from doing so many push-ups and holding planks. No weights, no bands, no extra equipment or anything... just a DVD and my own body weight! I do have to adjust quiet a few things on the DVDs for my knee but even with the modifications, the workout is still killer.

Tomorrow is our weigh in day and I am not really excited to take the pictures or weigh because I know its not that big of a difference from February 7th... however I am every excited to take the pictures and weigh because April 7th will mark our half way point of Insanity and I cant wait to see the difference then.

I wanna say thank you to Becca and to Steph for helping me! Thank you Becca for coming over every and working out with me and Casey. You doing that is really helping us stay on track... plus I love having someone to compete with, haha! And Steph, thanks for letting me borrow the DVDs. This way I can still workout even if Becca is unable to make it over that day and I can workout on Saturday instead of squeezing in an extra workout in on Friday.

Lastly... Thank you Casey for supporting me and for backing while we are "Sweatin' for the Weddin"!!! I love you!



Insanity is Insane!

Happy Tuesday Y'all...

Casey and I started Insanity last night with a friend of ours and boy oh boy am I sore this morning. I have been working out 4-6 times a week for the past couple months but I know it hasn't been intense... kinda just going through the motions. Well last night proved that! I woke up barley able to move this morning and that was just after the Fit Test. Day 1 starts tonight and I am very excited about it. With my knee, I did have to modify a few of the jumping workouts but even with the modifications it was still a very hardcore workout.

We have 33 days until Engagement photos (April 7th)

I have 46 days until we go dress shopping (April 20th)

And now I have 60 days of INSANITY!!!!

Have you ever tried Insanity? If so what did you like and not like about it? Did you do it for the full 60 days? Did you notice a difference in your body? Did you take before and after photos?

I will be posting again on the 7th for our monthly photos and we have decided those will be our Insanity before photos also. I think these videos might take the place of my running addiction void that I haven't been able to feel yet.

Get Fit or Get Out!